This past week was kind of a rough one for me. My grandmother passed away so last weekend I went to Alabama for the funeral and stuff. I kind of wanted to use this blog to brag on her a bit, because not only was she a great person with many talents, she was also a gamer, too, believe it or not!

Frances Sue Woodham passed away at the age of 85. Us grandkids and great-grandkids just called her ‘Maw Maw’ or ‘Maw Maw Sue’ although the way we wrote it out was ‘Ma Ma.’ I never understood that because that’s not the way you pronounce it, but you know how some things are in families. I’m sure going to miss her, but I’m not worried about her now because she’s in a better place and with my grandfather now, too! I’m glad that I got to visit her about two months ago before she passed away. The funeral went well and I got to see a lot of family that I haven’t gotten to see in a while.

Anyway, nearly everyone in my family is into video games in some form or fashion. Some more than others. On this trip, I even played Animal Crossing: New Leaf with one of my cousins and her kids. Even my grandmother was into video games! Surprisingly, her favorite games were Deer Hunter titles. Remember in the late 90’s when Deer Hunter games were all the rage on PCs? Well at the time I was writing for The Dallas Morning News and was reviewing a lot of hunting games, so after I was done, I’d give them to my grandparents. There was this one Deer Hunter sequel with early 3-D graphics that my grandmother just loved. She would even make up her own rules and not shoot at babies or does, and she still had the highest score in the family. Even when I saw her last, she still enjoyed playing games on the PC like Mah Jongg, Solitaire, and Bejeweled. Some people say that since those are casual games, they don’t count. But I say they do!

My grandmother was talented in other ways, too. One of the jobs she had was a florist, and she would tell me about some of the flower arrangements she worked on. So now when I play the Mii Plaza game Flower Town, I’ll think of her. I’ll also think of her when I play the Art Academy games (can’t wait for the Wii U one), because my grandmother was an artist in other ways, too. She really enjoyed painting. Many of her artwork is hung up on the walls of her old house and the houses of family members. She was in an art club, won awards, and even taught classes. I think I got my artistic talents from her. Yes, believe it or not, I can draw. My drawings are a bit more cartoony, and I haven’t drawn in a long time so I’m WAY out of practice, but I’m artistic in other ways, too. I was in band in high school, and I consider my writings a form of art as well. And I think I got a lot of that from my grandmother!

Anyway, I wanted to post some sketches that she has done over the years. What’s cool is that I’ve had these on my computer for a long time. But it was my grandmother who scanned them all by herself. Just goes to show you that even if you are older, you can still learn how to do things on the computer. Here are the sketches.

I also wanted to show some of her bigger paintings. We took a couple to show off at the funeral, so I snuck in a shot. She also painted a big mural that’s still at the church she used to go to!

One last picture that has nothing to do with any of this. When my dad and I drove to Alabama for the funeral, we stopped off at West Monroe to see the Duck Dynasty gift store. My dad loves that show. Here’s a picture of one of the big trucks parked out front.

6 Responses to “My Gamer Grandmother”

Tami July 31st, 2013 at 12:09 am

Sorry to hear about your grandmother, Cary. And I consider mah jong, bejeweled, and solitaire to all be perfectly legit games. Whatever makes us happy as gamers. I remember you telling us how much your grandmother enjoyed the Deer Hunter titles.

Snee August 1st, 2013 at 1:42 pm

your grandmother was quite the artist, Cary! Sorry for your loss.

Aaron B August 1st, 2013 at 4:45 pm

I’m sorry about your loss Cary. Those are some amazing drawings! My grandmother isn’t really a gamer, but she sure can play a mean piano.

Joe Step August 2nd, 2013 at 4:45 am

Sorry for your loss. As others have said, she was a great artist, and she sounds like a fascinating and fun woman.

smartcelt August 4th, 2013 at 5:06 pm

The paintings she did are fantastic.My Mom paints and I always wished I had her talent for it. I like the cat sketches the best. She really had a knack for the details on animals faces. As for Duck Dynasty I think they are going to end up billionaires. I saw so much of their stuff at Wal Mart today it blew my mind. Never been anything so intensely marketed since Angry Birds….or maybe even Kiss.

Cary Woodham August 10th, 2013 at 1:08 pm

Thanks for reading my blog and for all the nice comments, everyone! –Cary